Anyway – think of the successful bosses that you’ve worked for. Think of the people in your office who are able to get shit done. Think of colleagues that climb the ladder faster than you.

What do they have in common? They have shorter asking chains.

They cut out the middle man. They either are the expert, or they know who the expert is that knows what they want to know and they just go direct and get it.

Less messing. Less stalling. Less waiting. Less down time.

The smaller the company the easier this is. In large global corporations this can be much harder but will be the difference between getting a promotion or not. Between making a good impression or not. Between meeting a deadline or not.

So here are your choices:

Sit in the middle and just pass questions on

Be the person at the end of the line – become an expert / specialist who people come to, for the answer to their questions

Find out who the experts / specialists are, so that you can go direct and therefore reduce the asking chain

The next time someone asks you a question consider this – am I part of an asking chain? If yes – what can I do to reduce it?

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